Forgotten Past, Shadowed Future
by Yamicat
Summary: Kyriia is a remarkable 17-year-old duelist who has a secret about her past. When she meets Yugi and co, she wants to make friends, but for her friends are forbidden. Suddenly she finds herself facing a challenge, and running out of time to do it. Ch. 4!
1. Kyriia

Disclaimer: Much as I wish I did, I don't own Yu-gi-oh. Nor did I come up with most of the characters I'm using. But three characters I am using that you won't recognize; Kyrii, Slog, and Syro do belong to me. This is my first time writing a fic like this, so please be gentle. Also, if you see any grammatical errors, only part of this was revised, so if you see anything, please notify me and I'll fix it.

Author's Note: This whole thing will take a long time to finish, but don't worry, it will be interesting, so PLEASE read and review. 

Kyriia

" I wonder why she's here?" 

"No idea, but she probably doesn't even have one decent card in that deck of hers. She probably stole it with her starchips" 

"I dunno, she looks pretty tough, for a thief" 

Kyrii's hands automatically balled into tightly clenched fists. "_That's it_," Kyrii thought "_I am seriously gonna hurt the next person to throw an insult at me. "_

And the chance came all to soon, next second, a boy with greenish hair and light skin and eyes said in a loud, whiny, voice, "I bet she wouldn't last two seconds in a match against _me_." 

Another boy scoffed "Watch it Weevil, I beat you last year, you weren't even a finalist," the boy reminded him. 

The boy with the whiny voice, apparently Weevil' let out an angry growl that sounded to Kyrii almost like a cross between a dog whimpering and a snake's hiss. Then the impact of the name sunk in, _"Weevil? Weevil Underwood? Wasn't that? Yes, this year's Duel Monsters Regional Champion, and the kid I tied in our last duel, right after the championships last year, when everyone had gone home."_

A smirk spread across Kyrii's lean face, if this really was Weevil, then victories in this tournament weren't going to be so hard after all, if she could tie him once, surely she could beat him now, when she was a much stronger duelist. So Kyrii decided she would pay a little visit to Weevil again, just to whittle him down to size, he seemed to have gotten a rather big head after winning the regional championships this year. Kyrii turned on her heel and walked towards the place where Weevil's voice had come from. It was easy too, she thought later, the crowd parted immediately after seeing her face.

At last Kyrii came to a group of four boys sitting in a circle talking amongst themselves, and they, evidently, seemed to be talking about her. It was then that Kyrii noticed the faces of the other boys, besides Weevil. 

She recognized the first boy, sitting on Weevil's right, as Rex Raptor, the so-called "dino duelist" who was Weevil's final opponent in this year's Regional Championships. Rex was known for using mainly dinosaur cards in a game called duel monsters, (hence the nickname "dino duelist") and he was very powerful because of them. 

On Weevil's left was a boy Kyrii recognized as Slog Tonen, (a.k.a. Fiend Slave) the last finalist for the Regionals last year. He had wiped out Rex right from the start, using his powerful fiend type cards. Slog had been crushed in the same tournament, however, in the final match by the duelist sitting on his left, Syro Brant.

Syro also had a nickname, but it was by far the most powerful, he was known as "dragon master." Syro had won the last two regional championships, but for some reason didn't enter this year. Syro had said the only reason was that he'd won the last two Regionals, and already had a great rep, so what was the point of entering again? He would just crush the other players within ten minutes, just like he'd done last time. Most duelists in the last two championships hated to admit it, but Syro wasn't exaggerating. Syro had destroyed Weevil when they dueled him last year and Weevil was not too keen on accepting this fact. Indeed, it was humiliating for Weevil, having made it to the top ten last year looking unstoppable, then having Syro stomp him out of the tournament in five turns. 

Kyrii was now standing over the small cluster of boys, but they seemed not to notice her, this was probably because Syro was retelling the story of his and Weevil's last duel against him at the tournament last year, remembering every last detail. Weevil was sitting there, listening, and looking humiliated. 

"And then I activated my Ice Glacier trap card, freezing his pathetic poison moth and stomped it out with my Crawling Dragon, thus winning the match and wiping the smirk off Mr. "Bug Master's" pitiful face." Syro was repeating dreamily, then he looked up at Kyrii and said loudly "and speaking of pitiful, look what found it's way onto the boat." 

He pointed at Kyrii and the other three looked up and saw Kyrii standing there, defiance on her face, and fire in her icy blue eyes. 

"Welcome Kyrii, how nice of you to join us," Weevil said his look of humiliation gone, replaced by a devious grin. "But," Weevil continued, innocently, "aren't you on the wrong boat?" The boys around him sniggered. 

"Yeah Kyrii, the Losers were boarding their ship on the next dock over," the boys' sniggers got louder. This comment had been from Rex whose voice sounded much like Weevil's only less whiny and more gravelly.

Kyrii had a massive urge to reach over and start pounding Rex into the floor (with the training she had, she could do it too) but, with much difficulty, she managed to control herself and to keep a straight face. She knew Rex and Weevil were referring to Kyrii's one and only Duel Monster's defeat, which had been handed to her by Weevil in the third last round of the regional championships this year. The score had been amazingly close, but Kyrii had still lost and Weevil had been rubbing it in her face the whole rest of the championship. That's why Kyrii had demanded a rematch after the whole thing was over, when everyone had gone home. The rematch had ended with her creaming Weevil, but since it was and unofficial duel, Weevil had refused to admit it had ever happened. In fact, Kyrii knew that the only reason Weevil had even won the first time was because he had cheated, and in a clever way too. Right before her match against Weevil, she'd put her deck down so she could go outside to get some fresh air. When she got back, everything seemed normal, but while she was dueling Weevil, she found all of her best cards had been replaced with basic bug monsters. She had managed to keep the game close and pressured Weevil at every turn, but even so, she lost. After the duel was over, Kyrii turned her back once again for a few minutes, and when she checked her deck again, everything was normal. So when Kyrii accused him of cheating and reported it to the judges, she couldn't prove anything. He had given the cards back, but Kyrii made him duel her again, after everything was over, with her best cards included, and since he was a coward and took Kyrii's threats seriously, Weevil had no choice but to accept. So Kyrii battled him again, and beat him badly, but since no one but Weevil and herself saw it, Weevil claimed it had never happened. 

Kyrii's fists began clenching and unclenching, each fist tighter than the last, leaving deep imprints of her nails in each palm. The four boys watched her, ignoring the warning glare Kyrii was giving them, then erupted into gales of cruel laughter at her childish anger. She seethed for a few seconds, then smiled sweetly; she'd come up with the perfect comeback. 

"Did I do something funny?" Kyrii said blankly, pretending she didn't know what they were laughing about. "Oh, I get it! You said something funny Rex, that thing about losers. Coming from you, Rex Fossil, that comment is funny, because I lasted a lot longer then you did in my duel against Centipede over here," She jerked her head in Weevil's direction, "then you ever would," both of the boys she'd insulted looked extremely miffed. 

"The name's Rex _Raptor_" Rex snarled at Kyrii, "get it right or get out." Kyrii scoffed, 

"Same difference, with the cards you're using, they might as well be fossils anyway." 

Slog and Syro laughed and Kyrii whirled on them before Rex could say anything else. "Well, well, well, look who's laughing now, Sloth the Fiend, You're going to miss you're closet shift you know. Three year olds are always afraid monsters are going to jump out and scare them at night. And Puff the Magic Dragon," she pointed at Syro, as he was the only one still laughing. "I think you'd better get back to Honalee, little Jackie Paper misses you. No, strike that, no one could miss you except you're mom. Maybe." 

All four boys jumped to their feet, ready to shout insults and comebacks of their own, but Kyrii just tilted her head and gave them a "you're-so-pathetic" glance, turned abruptly, and disappeared into the crowd. 

Kyrii fought her way to the deck, and looked down into the dark depths of the sea below her. She sighed, and unhooked one of the three silver clasps on her sky blue cloak, revealing the blue and white plaid vest and the pressed, button-down white dress shirt underneath. She also had on a pleated skirt made out of the same material as her vest, and white, linen stockings, all part of the standard Caraway uniform. Caraway Monarch was the boarding school that Kyrii had attended for two years, even though she didn't like it. Obviously she didn't go there because she wanted to, but she didn't go there because her parents made her either. In fact, the sad truth was, she didn't have parents anymore, and she hadn't for the past five years. But Kyrii had been pretending that she did have parents when she went to Caraway, she had to.

The truth was, Kyrii was running from someone, and if that someone caught her, the consequence would be a fate worse then death. That's why when she finally escaped she had to change her name, and run. She had to keep running, she couldn't stay in the same place for more than two years at a time, if she did, he would catch her "No," Kyrii said to herself, "I mustn't think of that, I'm here, I should be happy. But." No, she couldn't be happy! She was in danger here, and his spies were everywhere. _"Why did I even come aboard this dreadful ship? I'm walking right into a trap; I know it!" _Kyrii sighed and absentmindedly plucked a hair from her head and watched it float away on the evening breeze. Why couldn't anything in her life? If only she was back at home with her brothers. If only she hadn't gone outside that fateful day five years ago! If only "Hi!" a voice suddenly jerked Kyrii from her thoughts.

"Huh?" Kyrii whirled around, and standing in front of her was a small boy, maybe about fourteen. She bent down a bit, (she was maybe eight inches taller than the boy was) and carefully studied the boy's face. He had a gentle face with big, dark purple eyes, a small nose, and frizzy, out of control hair that matched his eyes in the back, with a touch of black and tufts of yellow in the front. He had on a white shirt a little like the one Kyrii was wearing, a dark blue over coat with matching pants, and a broad smile. But it looked like his most unique feature was what looked like an ancient artifact that seemed to be a pyramid flipped upside down with a picture of an eye in the center. As Kyrii looked closer, she noticed faint little jagged lines running throughout the curio, and realized it was actually a puzzle. A puzzle with an eye? Then it dawned on her, surely this had to be the legendary Millennium Puzzle! She'd heard of this powerful relic, it was brother to the other six Millennium Items, but that meantKyrii turned away for a moment and her hand flew to her chest, where the small ridge, just barely visible, jutted out from under the folds of her cloak.

Kyrii took a few deep breaths in, forced a smile, and turned back to the boy, who looked a bit confused. "What's wrong?"

He asked, apparently torn between curiosity and concern. "Nothing, it's just, well" _"come on Kyrii, think!"_

"You–you look familiar." _"Terrible cover-up story,"_ Kyrii thought, but the boy laughed and, seeing Kyrii's sheepish expression, said 

"It's okay, many people think that way. My name's Yugi Muto by the way," he added. Curiosity bubbled up inside Kyrii's stomach; she tried to force it down, but said 

"_The_ Yugi Muto? Victor over Seto Kaiba?" 

"That's me." 

"Oh, that-that's what I thought." _"Yugi wields the awesome powers of the Millennium Puzzle!_" Kyrii thought,_ "No wonder he's got such a reputation."_ There was a small pause, and Yugi, after studying Kyrii's face a few moments said thoughtfully: 

"You know, you look awfully familiar too. And I'm not just saying that, you remind me of someone" Kyrii swallowed hard, fear steeping through her, 

__

"What if he figures it out and tells one of them? What if he finds out I'm" But at that moment, a voice rang across the boat: 

"Hey Yug! Whatcha doin'?"

Both of them turned simultaneously as a sandy-haired boy a few inches shorter than Kyrii fought his way through the crowd, waving at Yugi. "Hi Joey!" Yugi said, smiling, as the Joey reached the deck, "where were you?" 

"I was just off doin' some trades. I got some really cool cards too!" Joey counted them off on his fingers as he said the names of the cards "Salamandra, Kuni with Chain, Baby Dragon" 

"That's great! I've been over here mostly, and I made a new friend, but she hasn't told me her _name_ yet," Yugi cast a sideways glance at Kyrii. 

"Oh." Said Kyrii, feeling foolish, "Kyriia, Kyrii, whichever you want to call me." Yugi was smiling, but Joey looked uneasy, 

"Yugi? Could you come with me for a second?" Yugi looked puzzled but he could easily read the pleading look in his friend's eyes, 

"Sure Joey," he turned to Kyrii, "we'll be right back." Kyrii looked curiously after them for a few seconds after they disappeared into the crowd, but eventually turned and looked out into the night again.

Joey led his friend to a little spot further down and stopped outside a small room. There were no people there, so they could talk in peace. "Yugi? Why are you hanging out with _her_?"

"Who?"

"Kyrii!" Joey sounded impatient and concerned at the same time. Yugi was confused; Joey usually got to know someone before judging them. 

"What's wrong with her?" 

Joey fidgeted restlessly, seemingly trying to find the right words, "well, okay, look: a rumor is going around the boat that a tall girl with blue eyes and brown hair is a thief and that everyone should beware of her. And I'm pretty sure that girl is Kyrii. I'm not tryin' to stop you from makin' friends, but I'm too concerned about ya not to ya. So listen Yug, just be careful, alright?" Yugi smiled faintly, 

"Don't worry Joey, if you give her a chance, I'm sure Kyrii is a great person. But thanks for the warning. Now come on! Let's go back and talk to her."

Kyrii looked over her shoulder and saw the two comrades walking towards her, _"Wow,"_ she thought _"they really decided to give me a chance. It's been a long time since that happened."_ The duo had almost reached her when they were stopped by one of Kyrii's many enemies, Syro. He shot a hateful glance at Kyrii from the side and started to engage Yugi in conversation. She threw a nasty look Syro's way, she knew he would make an idiot out of her if she tried talking in front of him, so that was all she could do. She did have the ever-tempting option of going over and smacking him, but that wouldn't leave a perfect impression on her Yugi and Joey. So Kyrii was left with no choice but to retreat into the darkness, as she had done ever since she was forced into her new life. So with out a second though about it, she turned and marched away without even looking back.


	2. A Dream Come True

A Dream Come True

Kyrii navigated her way through the rapidly thinning crowd and, after a few minutes of wandering aimlessly through the twisted corridors, found herself next to her own room. She knew it wasn't one of the second-class rooms like the ones newcomers like Joey and she was pretty sure Yugi had to live with. Nor was it one of the luxury suites Rex and Weevil could gloat over, since she was a third place finisher in the Regionals, but not a champion, she got a first class room, not luxury, but not steerage. She flung open the door, entered, and slammed it shut, causing complaints from the other residents along the hall, but she didn't care. The only lighting provided was that of two candles on her nightstand, but other than that the room was fairly suitable. The sunlight filling her room was fading, so she struck a match and lit one of the candles and placed in a lamp on her nightstand.

Then flopped onto her bed and reflected on everything that had gone wrong in her life, and the list was extremely long. Just the thought of her misery made her upset and angry. She hated her life. But there, underneath all the debris of her cracked, battered, miserable existence shone tiny rays of hope, little shards of the past Kyrii had once cherished but had now forgotten. Well, maybe not quite forgotten. Sometimes, on long, lonely nights when no eyes pierced darkness but hers, sometimes she remembered a boy, brown hair like hers, icy blue eyes like hers, a nasty temper, like hers, tall and regal, like her...but the memories didn't stop there. If she strained her mind enough, sometimes she saw a darkened prison cell, a locket, and a starher star. She threw off her cloak and fingered the golden object, a mysteriously ancient, five-pointed star with an eye in the center. 

She looked down at the Millennium Star fastened around her neck on a golden chain, and she thought she saw it glint strangely. At first she thought it was the lighting of the room, but in a few seconds the glint had changed to an unmistakable glow. Kyrii was not afraid, only startled, but before she could think of a logical explanation, a sudden wave of fatigue swept over her, and she fell back on her pillows, giving way to the oblivion of sleep. Never knowing that an eerie light was filling the room long after the candle had gone out 

Images flashed through Kyrii's mind like bullets, all the images together like a watercolor. _Weevil talking and laughing with Yugi and Joey on the deck...Yugi opens a boxtakes out five cardsWeevil cackles as he throws them overboardJoey dives in to rescue themYugi follows with a loud splash _Kyrii awoke with a start, body drenched in a cold sweat, everything had seemed so real! She glanced down at her Millennium Star, she knew something had happened before she had fallen asleep, something that involved her Star, but she could remember nothing. 

A sudden breeze cooled the air and Kyrii shivered, a storm was on its way. She hadn't realized how dark it had gotten, she lit the other candle and checked her watch, and it read ten o' clock. She knew she had fallen asleep around seven, had she really been sleeping for three hours? Oh well. Another, stronger flurry of wind rushed through the open window, this time rattling the pane and chilling Kyrii to the bone. She hurried to the window but just before she threw down the sash, her sensitive hearing picked up the faint sound of laughter from out on the deck. Not normal, amused laughter either, but mockingly cold laughter. A voice said something and Kyrii strained to hear the words, but they were drowned by another gust of air that made the candle flicker madly until it went out. But the darkness made what happened next even more frightful: there was a cry, accompanied by a loud splash, it seemed as if her dreams were coming true.

Without bothering to light another candle, Kyrii slammed the window shut and stumbled blindly through the darkness to find her cloak. It was a good thing Kyrii's eyes adjusted to the darkness so quickly because she was out the door in seconds, fastening the last silver clasp. Kyrii raced down the hall with amazing speed, until she came to the deck, "Yugi no!" she cried, but she was too late, he had already jumped. 

With a flash of beige and pink, a brown-haired boy and girl both a little younger than Kyrii appeared from somewhere in the shadows, looking around wildly. Both the boy and the girl ran over to the side of the deck, but Kyrii dashed the other way, she knew there was an emergency ladder somewhere. In less then a minute, Kyrii had found it in a glass emergency box and was issuing a command to the other two: " Come here!" They both promptly obeyed "Stand back," the boy said to her, but Kyrii shook her head and with one powerful punch, broke the glass. Shards flew in every direction and Kyrii covered her face but her hands were badly cut, and the salty sea air tripled the pain. But Kyrii ignored the pain and (with a little help from the boy and girl) lifted the rope ladder out of the emergency box. They cast it over the side and a few seconds later they felt a tug on the end as Yugi climbed the ladder, clutching the front of Joey's shirt. The trio on the deck pulled and tugged and finally Kyrii were able to gently lift Yugi's worn body off the ladder, and the boy was doing the same with Joey. 

" ThanksTristan," Joey said between huge gasps for breath and the boy nodded and smiled faintly "anytime, pal." "You...tooTea" Yugi was the speaker this time and it was the girl that smiled. They were obviously all friends, so Kyrii would not be wanted in the conversation. It was time, once again, for her to retreat into the shadows. That's what she liked to think of herself as: a human shadow, slipping into cracks and crevasses, being seen only when she wanted to be. It sounded like a nice life, but if she were given the choice, she would abandon it in a second. But Kyrii didn't have a choice, at least now, so she bowed her head, and faded into the shadows. 


	3. Promises and Tears

Promises and Tears

"Hey, where'd that girl go?" Said Tristan, looking around questioningly. The four friends had been sitting on the deck for the last half hour talking, it seemed that no one had noticed the girl's disappearance till now. "What girl?" asked Joey, he seemed not to have noticed Kyrii when he was being pulled out off the ladder. Tristan looked at Yugi, expecting him to know, but even Yugi had a puzzled look on his face. Maybe he hadn't felt Kyrii lift him off the ladder either. Before Tristan had a chance to say anything, Tea filled in for him; "there was a girl, she came out of the shadows and helped us find the emergency line we used to rescue you guys." "Hmmm," Yugi seemed to be lost in thought for a few minutes, enough to get Joey impatient. "Hey Yug? What's eating ya man?" When Yugi didn't respond, Joey began to wave his hand violently in front of his face "Earth to Yugi! Come in Yugi!" Yugi ignored him, and turned to face Tea " what did the girl look like?" "Well, um, she was really tall, she had long brown hair, and um, I think she was wear a blue cloak, but it was hard to tell in the dark." Yugi was opening his mouth to respond, but Joey answered for him, "it's Kyrii!" 

"Kyrii?" Tea and Tristan repeated quizzically "Yeah," Joey said "she's the girl Yugi and I met today. Weevil and Syro say she's an untrustworthy thief and I believed it too, but now that she helped out and all, maybe she ain't so bad." "Yes," Yugi agreed, "she defiantly proved herself an honest person. She saved our lives," Yugi nodded at Joey "and for that we at least owe her our trust." "So then why isn't she here to take credit for what she did?" Tristan wondered. "Maybe it's cause she's a spy!" Joey interjected, face lighting up at his joke "yeah, she works for Pegasus see, and" Joey went on into a long tale with many false evidences about Kyrii being what Joey called a Shadow Spy.' It got the others laughing, but they wouldn't have been if they knew how close to the mark Joey had been. For, at that moment, Kyrii did spy sometimes, but not on them

* 

Kyrii crept through the shadows making no noise except for the almost inaudible swishing of her cloak. She wouldn't go back to her room just yet, she felt that if she did she would miss something important, and she couldn't afford to miss anything important, not anymore. One thing was for certain, though; she would not go back to the deck where Yugi, Joey, and their friends were. It was too risky. If Yugi or any one of his friends somehow uncovered her secret, there was a chance Kyrii would never see the light of day again. No, much as it hurt her, there could be no such thing as friends. 

Kyrii had vowed to herself years ago that no matter how bad things got, she would never cry. But she couldn't help it; the thought of not having friends to trust, to confide in, to put faith into, was just too much to stand. So a single delicate tear escaped her now and fell to the ground where it shattered like broken glass. Tears reminded Kyrii of promises; and how easily they could be broken. Like a tear, you let go a promise and swore to keep it, but sooner or later you slip, and, like a tear, it breaks. 

Without having any reason to, Kyrii unfastened two of the clasps on her cloak and absentmindedly fingered the Millennium Star. She gazed at it for a few minutes, then, just as Kyrii was starting to refasten her cloak, the Star glimmered again, as it had done before in her room, and this time there was no light to play tricks on her. Kyrii stood, transfixed, as the Star's glimmer transformed into a glow that grew brighter and brighter, then, without warning, the gentle radiance enveloped her and everything around her dissolved. All that could be seen of Kyrii through the brightness was the faraway look in her eyes

Once again, blurred images flashed through Kyrii's mind: _a boy and a girl both around seven, the boy pushing her on a swing, the girl jumped off and they both tumbled onto the soft grass. They laughed and brushed the stray grass from her long brown hair saying, " I'll always be there for you." The girl: "you promise?" the boy: "yes. I promise." The image faded and a new one took its place: it was years later the girl, alone, in a dreary room, crying as she looked at a picture of the boy, "you broke your promise," the girl whispered. Another image came into view; the boy, alone in a lavish room gazing at a picture of the girl "I'm sorry Sakia, not all promises can be kept" "Kyrii?" A voice asked, " Kyrii?"_ Kyrii felt a searing pain in her head then all faded into blackness. 

"Kyrii!" Yugi said in a voice that was loud as he dared, and, to his relief, the figure on the bed opened her eyes.

"Hey, Where am I? How did I get here?" Kyrii looked into the Yugi's compassionate eyes hovering above her in the candlelight, sliding in and out of focus. 

"In you're room," Yugi responded, "my friends Joey and Tristan carried you here. You've been out cold for the past hour or so, we've all been really worried about you." Confused as she was, underneath it all, Kyrii felt a pang of gratitude, Yugi and his friends had cared about her so much as to watch out for her even though she wasn't really their friend. 

Kyrii realized what Yugi could've found out, and her head shot up, "Wait, How did you know where my OW!" Kyrii's voice broke off before she could finish her sentence, hadn't noticed it before, but her head really hurt. 

"Oh! Careful!" Yugi gently eased her back onto her pillows; "You've got quite a bump on your head when you fell." 

"I fell?" Kyrii asked, massaging her head and rubbing the painful lump on the back of her head. It was strange, though, she hadn't remembered falling, what was the last thing she remembered? She stained her mind for memories of the past few hours but it made her head hurt more, so she stopped. 

"Yes," Yugi was apparently answering her pervious question. "You probably fainted, because my friends and I all came running when we heard a noise, and we saw you lying on the floor. You're room key must've fallen out of your pocket, because my friend Tea found it on the ground next to you. It's a good thing they put the room numbers on the keys otherwise we would never have found your room. All my other friends left after we brought you back, but I decided to stay in case you woke up." 

Kyrii flushed, "Yugi, you really didn't have to" 

"No," Yugi responded, " it was the least we could do for you," he tilted his head slightly as a gesture of concern, "you saved my life, and Joey's." 

Kyrii smiled, it was the first real smile she could remember since she came on the boat. "No I didn't, if I hadn't found the emergency rope, one of your friends would've, I barely had anything to do with it." 

"Not the way my friends tell it, they say you're a heroine, and I must say, I agree." Yugi yawned and continued "well it's almost one o' clock, both of us should get some sleep if we're even going to get anywhere in the tournament tomorrow. I'll see you in the morning Kyriia, sweet dreams." As he headed for the door, Kyrii lifted her head slightly and whispered "sweet dreams Yugi, good luck. And Yugi?" she raised her voice slightly so he turned to face her. 

"Mmmm?" 

"Thank you. Thank you for everything." 

He smiled wearily "Anytimemy friend." 

*

Kyrii found it very easy to fall asleep that night, not only because she had been up so late but she also knew she would forget the pain in her head and the cuts on her hands while she slept. But before she blew out the candle, she made sure to get out a pencil and paper and lay them by her bedside, in case she remembered anything of what had happen before she fell. It was a good thing she did too, because maybe two hours after she fell into slumber, she woke up, and remembered everything. She quickly wrote it all down on the scrap she that she had laid on her nightstand, and fell back into the forgetfulness of sleep. 

Kyrii awoke around seven o' clock, she had to get up at six thirty when she was at Caraway, so she had developed getting up early as a habit. She immediately looked at what she had written on the slip of paper the night before and found her usually perfect handwriting was much messier than usual, but otherwise, she could read it. Her paper said: Glow. Dream: boy pushes girl on swing. Boy makes promise to girl. Girl older, sitting alone somewhere looking at picture of boy. Boy broke promise. Boy older, sitting somewhere else alone calls girl Sakia.' Says I'm sorry, not all promises can be kept.'

This refreshed her memory but she couldn't remember why she wrote down glow.' Hmmm. Maybe the morning sea breeze would help her think, but, remembering the salty air and the affect it would have on the wounds on her hands, she bandaged them up before going out onto the deck. She looked around to find her cloak, but saw that she was still wearing it so she tucked the slip of paper into her inside pocket and headed out onto the deck. 

Kyrii strode onto the deck and scanned the area. She was surprised, although, as far as she could tell, almost everyone on the boat had gotten at least a fair amount of sleep, almost no one had gotten up at the same hour she had. Maybe it was the fact it was summertime and everyone was used to sleeping in at that time of year. Maybe everyone was just plain lazy. But whatever the reason, no one was here outside, and a serene stillness hung heavy in the air. She loved this time of day, when no one was here to make excess noise, when she could really relax without having anyone stare or make comments about her. The solitude was perfect, peaceful, and calm just they way she wanted it. 

Kyrii gracefully walked to the side of the deck and looked out at the small smear on the watery gray horizon that was Duelist Kingdom. A twang of eagerness surged through her body, she was almost there. Now, after years of waiting, longing, she would finally get the chance she had worked so hard for. At last, she would have the right to battle for the knowledge she should've possessed long ago. She had the chance to answer the two questions that tortured her: Who was she? Where was her family? The answers that would solve all her problems and she was willing and ready to fight for it. She knew she had a brother out there somewhere, but she had no idea who he was or his name or what he looked likeas far as her brother was concerned, she knew nothing. 

But no one, especially any enemy of hers could know that she had almost no family. If that knowledge fell into the wrong hands, the results could be deadly, or worse. An icy shiver ran up Kyrii's spine, no one must know. Not even Yugi or any of his friends. She closed her eyes and a stray memory appeared in her mind: it was herself, or at least, that's who she thought it was, when she was very young. She was maybe five or six, and had just learned how to ride a bike. She had watched some bigger kids riding their own bikes near her house doing tricks and showing off, and she decided she would try too. She had tried and, of course, failed and as a result had gotten scraped up a little. The clearest part of the memory was her father, rocking her in his arms and whispering "you'll be okay, but always remember; too much knowledge can lead to betrayal." 

Kyrii opened her eyes "too much knowledge can lead to betrayal." It was true. The words were her father's, and she would not forget them, next to her Millennium Star he had given her, these words were the last of the memories she could remember of him. 

"It's pretty, isn't it?" The familiar voice was so close it made Kyrii jump. She looked around wildly and saw Yugi next to her, leaning against the side of the deck looking the same direction as she had been. In the momentary confusion, it took a minute for her to realize he was talking about the island in the distance. 

"I guess," Kyrii responded half-heartedly, "I mean, we're just going there to compete and make enemies out of friends. I think that takes away most of it's pleasantness." Yugi smiled at this remark, but it soon faded into seriousness. 

"So, what's your reason?"

"Huh?"

"For dueling. Everyone has to have a reason." 

"Oh. Umm, why don't you tell me yours first." Yugi looked upset, his face and his voice were filled with concern and dismay. 

"My—my grandfather's soul was taken, kidnapped, by—by Pegasus. If I can beat him, he'll give me my grandpa back. I don't know what happens if I lose," his voice broke for a second, but then came back strong and confident, as if he were trying to convince himself of what he was saying: "but I won't lose. I can't."

__

"Wow," Kyrii thought to herself, _"if that isn't a noble cause I don't know what is. But I can't let Yugi win. He may be a nice person, but nothing is going to keep me from knowing what I need to know."_

But Kyrii was wrong, at that very moment the one person who could get in her way was watching both of them, and laughing. 


	4. A Traitor Found, a Traitor Captured, a T...

Hello again peoples! Sorry it's taken me so long to get the next chapter up, my computer service has not let me onto fanfiction.net for a long time, a REALLY long time (let's put it this way, the last time I was on was just after Christmas). But now I have a new computer! YAY! Ahem. Uh, anyway, I have a few notes before I begin the chapter: first of all, thank you SOOOOOOOO much for reviewing! It's helped me to write better stories knowing that there are people there to read them. Second, there will probably be some dueling in not this chapter but the next. I like watching the long, descriptive duels on the show, but I don't think I'll be wonderful at dictating them. Plus I haven't exactly memorized every card in the known world, so it would make it a little harder that way too.  For those reasons, I probably will just give you the finer points of the duel and (of course) its outcome. One more thing, I'm trying to make my portrayal of Pegasus, er… _accurate so if I miss anything, please alert me. Happy reading! Oh and by the way: anything in parenthesis is an authoress' note okay?_

A Traitor Found, a Traitor Captured, a Traitor Set Free

            Maximillion Pegasus chuckled as he sipped the red liquid in his glass (fruit juice or wine? You make the call) and gazed at the huge computer/television screen before him. "Ah these security cameras I've had installed on the boat do prove to be _quite entertaining. _

"Cameras sir?"  Said Mr. Croquet, Pegasus' head of security was speaking now, and "I don't remember installing any-" 

"Oh Croquet you're so naïve."  Pegasus sighed, "The cameras are not _on board_ the ship."   

"A thousand pardons sir but I don't quite-" 

"I've had just about enough of your numerous and useless apologies. One more mistake and I may have to dispose of you."  Croquet looked fearful; Pegasus rolled his eye(s? I was not sure on that one) _"I suppose I just shouldn't expect him to understand a genius," he_ thought, _"it's so hard to find sufficient help these days."  The silver haired man stood up, "let me try to explain this to you in words you'll __understand," he stressed the last word just to impress his point upon his servant. "I have taken the liberty," he glanced at Croquet as if to make sure he followed him so far, "to install mini cameras in the clothing of some selected guests. Most of these selected few, although not all have been hired beforehand. These Elites, as I call them, act as. . . oh you could say as spies."  _

            Croquet looked up curiously baffled, "spies sir?"  Pegasus looked down at him disgustedly; obviously angry at him for arguing with his "ingenious" plan.

"Yes, Croquet, spies. As I'm sure you know _quite_ well already without me having to remind you time and time again, this tournament was designed to keep watch on a specific person."  Pegasus stopped abruptly and turned to look at his servant, waiting expectantly. 

"Yugi Muto sir?"  Pegasus was perhaps a bit surprised Mr. Croquet had actually answered the question correctly.

"Yes, him."  _"Although there is another duelist, who probably also deserves my full attention," He thought. "These spies are just a. . .  precaution," Pegasus went on, "we don't want to lose track of our million dollar duelist now do we?"  _

"No sir!"  

"Anyway, the Elites have a very special, very easy, job: stay close to Yugi and his pathetic and intrusive friends, never let him out of your sight. If they bring me good footage, they are to be rewarded most handsomely."    

"How did you choose them sir?"  

"A good question. I chose only those duelists who I am sure will keep the secret and who I'm almost sure won't let me down. If they do fail and are shipped off of the island, they do not collect their reward. A few of these include Weevil Underwood, Slog Tonen, S-" a knock on the polished mahogany door stopped him from continuing. 

"You may enter," Pegasus said gruffly, and the door opened to reveal a tall black haired man, dressed in the black uniform and shades (why _do_ they insist on wearing shades?) of Pegasus' guard. "Greetings, Wicket. What brings you here?"  Pegasus said, turning to face the man. Mr. Wicket shifted restlessly from foot to foot, apparently not preferring to be in his employer's presence.

"This ship will arrive in approximately half and hour, sir."  

"Excellent. When they arrive, instruct our guests to proceed to the castle courtyard below the east balcony immediately for the opening ceremonies."  

"Right away sir," Mr. Wicket scurried out of the room without another word. Pegasus sat down again and placed his glass, now empty, beside him. 

After a few moments of silence, he stood up again and turned to Croquet, 

"You are to go to the left side of the courtyard just before the ceremony begins. There you will find a gathering of eight people. These are the Elites I spoke of. Give to each of them one envelope," he handed his servant eight plain white envelopes, "when this task is finished, report to the east balcony. Clear?"  Croquet stared a moment at the pack of sealed papers in his hands and dared to ask the question: 

"What's in them, sir?"  much to Croquet's surprise, his master smiled and said simply,

"A letter and their first payment in advance."  

***

            Kyrii stood in silence, looking out over the side of the boat for a few seconds, closing her eyes in thought. She looked over at Yugi and saw his eyes were closed also. A light breeze played across their faces and gently lifted their hair as they sailed into the wind. Kyrii decided that this was a good time to slip away; she didn't want to be asked any more questions. _"I would have to lie," _she thought grimly, _"again." _ She was just about to turn, when an icy shiver ran down her spine, they were being watched by someone, or some_thing. Someone was spying on them; she could just feel it._

            By now, Kyrii was used to spies, and she knew exactly how to catch them. Rather than turning abruptly, she slipped on foot carefully to the side, slowly and smoothly. She turned her body in one quick, even motion and walked casually towards the shadows directly across from where she thought whoever it was was hiding. She stayed half in, half out of the shadows, to let her eyes get used to the semi-darkness. 

            When she was sure she could see as well as she could, she glided to the side, merging with the shadows surrounding her as she went. Cloaked in darkness, she moved forward slowly and silently as a giant cat would as it stalked prey. She stopped a second and listened, and as she thought, she could hear faint breathing a few feet away and, if she looked hard enough, she could see the dark shape of something human. She looked at the shape, sizing it up. It definitely wasn't a guard, it was too short for that, and the person, whoever it was, was hunching over, not maintaining the regal stature that was the signature of every adult on the ship. Kyrii looked harder at the person, but before she could study her or she further, the person moved suddenly to the side, a sign that they would be try to escape soon. 

            _"If that's the way you want to play…"  Kyrii thought and swooped suddenly out of her hiding place to grab the unsuspecting victim by the collar and, with surprising ease she lifted person up off the ground. Shouts of protests filled the air for but a moment before Kyrii clamped her other hand firmly her captive's mouth and dragged her prey further along into the deepest part of the shadows, where they were the least likely to be detected. Not surprisingly the boy, for boy it was though Kyrii could not yet tell whom yet, struggled violently, kicking, flailing, and shouting muffled curses, but Kyrii's grip on his collar was strong and would not be dislodged that easily._

            "Keep still you pathetic worm," Kyrii hissed, "and I'll consider letting you go unharmed when I'm finished with you."   This silenced the boy and he reluctantly stopped fighting his captor. "Good," Kyrii told him, and relaxed her grip ever so slightly and lowering him onto the ground. "Now, tell me what you were doing, quietly now, or I may have to hurt you."  She slowly removed her hand from his face, allowing him to talk but glaring at him warningly, discouraging vocalizing anything above a whisper.  

" I was. . . just taking a little stroll. . ."  the boy began carefully, but he didn't have time to finish the sentence before Kyrii's hand raised as if she were about to strike him.

"Do not toy with me, pestilence," she nearly spat the words at him, "I am in no mood to be lied to. Tell me what you were really doing."   

            The boy stared back at her for a few seconds then Kyrii could make out a small smile through the darkness as he shifted positions bending back slightly to look up at her. "Alright," he said. "The truth is, I had been. . ." he hung his head, ashamed but kept his slightly bent back position, "stealing."  He reached into his pocket and pulled out three cards, all very rare and valuable (you fill them in here, as I said before I don't know every card in the world. . .) and all obviously not his, Kyrii had seen such cards being traded from another person on the ship. 

_"Just a thief," _Kyrii thought to herself, _"I've wasted my time on at thief."  _Enraged, she threw the boy to the ground and his face was forced into the light. Kyrii realized, to her horror, which it was: "Syro?"  she could barely breathe the name. Of all the people, it had to be him, one of her biggest enemies and competitors, not to mention the fact that he was one of the stronger duelists in the tournament. 

            Syro got up and brushed himself off, "me."  He said calmly and looked up at her, bending slightly backwards again to get a good view of her face. "You know you'd do well to stay out of my way, _Kyriia,"  he stressed her name as if it were poison to his tongue, "because when we face each other later, I will be the only one left standing. Count on it."  Anger seemed to run through every vein in Kyrii's body as she stepped into the light and lunged at him. "You little-"  _

She didn't notice it, but the Star around her neck was glowing and light bled, although faintly, through her cloak. But Syro noticed, and he liked very much what he saw. "Temper, temper," a twisted smirk crossed Syro's face as Kyrii lifted him off the ground again. He didn't fight her but he shifted positions slightly in her grip so he was looking at her from a different angle and said, "You wouldn't want the guards to catch you would you now, _Kyriia?"  _

Kyrii narrowed her eyes, what he said was true, the absolute worst thing that could happen would be if she got caught by one of the guards and brought to _him_, she almost shuddered out loud at the very thought. "You will tell them nothing. _Nothing._"  She whispered harshly as her glaring, icy eyes met his calm, brown ones. 

"Won't I?"  Syro chuckled, eyes flashing amusement mixed with contempt, "and what's to stop me?"  Syro grunted as Kyrii jerked him roughly upwards so his face was level with hers and look directly into his eyes. 

"Because if you do,"  the girl said in a soft, dangerous whisper, "If you so much as breathe a word to anyone I will personally make sure to rip the tongue out of your useless head, is that perfectly clear?"  the brightness of the glow from the Star around Kyrii's neck was increasing with her anger level and Syro smiled slyly. 

"Crystal."  Quick footsteps met both pairs of ears and Kyrii dropped Syro automatically. She pushed him, not too gently, out into full light and glided back into the shadows, whispering,

"You will tell them _nothing." With a final glint from the Star, she faded from view as she slipped into another room. _

Once he was sure Kyrii was gone, Syro just smirked and shook his head. He acknowledged the guards who had come around the corner seconds after Kyrii had hidden with a little nod, and continued to smile quietly to himself. He then turned his attention to Yugi, who was still watching the distant island grow bigger and bigger on the horizon. Syro shifted his weight a little and stepped just a tiny bit closer to his foe to look at his opponent from a better angle. He, too, eased himself into the shadows to watch from a distance.

***

The ship bumped gently into harbor and the ramp was lowered so all the duelists could get out. Kyrii was among them, head down, not wishing to attract any unnecessary attention from anyone. From the corner of her eye, she saw Syro, walking with Rex, Weevil, and Slog, talking to them in a low voice. "_I'm watching you; Syro Brant."_ Kyrii thought grimly, "_I WILL find out whatever it is you're hiding." Before she could think any farther, a voice called her name,_

"Kyriia! Over here!" Kyrii looked around and saw Yugi waving to her, his small group of friends with him. 

_"Blast," _Kyrii thought fiercely, _"So much for my cover." _She pushed her way through the crowd and lifted her head only when she came to the place Yugi was standing and looked down at him, a slightly forced smile on her face. "Hello, Yugi." She said, and nodded to his other friends. 

"Hiya Kyr!" Joey said to her, grinning. Kyrii flinched slightly at the nickname, but quickly replaced her mask of calmness and nodded to Joey again in response. The blond nudged her, "Pretty exciting huh?" he asked her.

_"Exciting.__ Right. Don't I wish," Kyrii thought and shrugged in answer. Joey seemed a little curious. _

"You don't talk much, do you?" There was a question she couldn't avoid so she answered simply,

"I suppose I just don't have much to say." 

But that was a downright lie and she knew it. She could talk about how much she missed her family, even though she didn't know exactly who or where they were. She could warn everyone about the strange actions of Syro and his cronies and what she guessed they were up to lately. Most of all, she could go on and on for hours on end about how much she _hated_ this tournament, this island, this whole situation, especially the man running it all. She could try to explain all this to the four friends assembled in front of her, but if she did it would have terrible consequences. _They_ could find her and bring her to _him_ and that would be the end of her life, or worse. A chill ran up Kyrii's spine and a sudden breeze whipped her hair in her face. She knew what she had to do; it was doing it without losing all she held dear to her that was the problem. 

But how could she? After all, she was just one person against at least a hundred. What could she do to stop all of them? _"Probably nothing," _Kyrii thought bitterly as all these thoughts chased each other around and around in her head. _"He is smarter than I am, has more people working for him, and had much more power on his side than I could even begin to comprehend. The chances of me pulling this off and living through it are a million to one." _But then her thoughts turned to something else. She would have no chance of finding her answers if she _didn't try. A million to one chance was minuscule, but it was still there. Frantic, the sensible part of her concerned with her life tried once more to get her to give up this foolish quest of hers with one last thought: __"You'll never do it. All the odds are against you." But then, the quiet curious part of her, the part that cared about her family, responded with a mere eight words. __"Since when have I ever listened to odds?"_

 With that, Kyrii's mind was made up. She _would beat everyone in her way, she __would get into that castle, she __would beat that dirty rat Pegasus and she _would _pry him for everything he knew about her until she was satisfied. Or she would die trying. Her sensible voice told her she _would_ die trying, but she didn't care. Kyrii surfaced from her ocean of thought and looked up at Yugi and company. Fire burned in her eyes and her heart and breathed "Let's do this." _

And that's a wrap for chapter 4! They FINALLY got to the island! Yay! Ahem, anyway, reviews would be much appreciated! Just give me a little time and the next chapter will be on its way soon, ok? 

~Yamicat~__


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